[Agency] McIntosh & Otis (Eugene & Elizabeth Winick)

McIntosh & Otis Agency

Hi all! Is anyone familiar with the McIntosh & Otis Literary Agency? I had the pleasure of meeting one of the agents at BookExpo and was wondering if anyone has worked with them. Thanks!

Peace,
Gary . . .

I'm waiting to hear back from Shira Hoffman on a full... It's been just a bit over a month and I'm hoping for some good news. I would love to be "with the McIntosh & Otis family" too, and have never heard a bad word about them. Also, I saw an "agency power ranking" that had them in the top 20, which might be totally meaningless but is certainly not a bad thing.

My mistake, it was the top 50... however this list is probably immensely useless except as a general list of reputable agencies and as a way to kill time while you're waiting for a response.

Another good way is to check the message boards here and follow all the agents considering you on twitter.

The creator of the list explains what went into the rankings, but when the data were collected is anyone's guess.

Just got an offer of rep from Christa today. Here was the whole process:

Query sent 7/3
I informed her of another offer on 7/29
Full requested and sent on 7/30
Offer on 8/2

I wonder--does Christa just represent childrens' authors? Would she consider an adult ghost story?

yendor1152 said:

I wonder--does Christa just represent childrens' authors? Would she consider an adult ghost story?

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My ms was YA fantasy, and as far as I know, she's building her list with children's lit from picture books to YA. She wrote a list of things she's looking for on her blog. Literary Rambles also listed her as interested in New Adult.

I'll be hosting an interactive interview with Ms. Heschke on my blog this Thursday, October 10. If you have a question for Ms. Heschke (or just an agent in general), this will be the perfect opportunity to ask it.

I'll be back that morning to post a direct link!

Here's that link!

http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/2013/10/interactive-interview-with-agent.html

Ms. Heschke will be taking questions until 4:00 p.m. EDT, so feel free to hop over anytime between now and then.

looking for information on agent

Does anyone have anything to share about Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein?

Thanks!

This is my first post. As a new writer I did my due diligence and research on McIntosh and Otis. Scary Stuff!

For anyone's that interested....

This agency was embroiled in a lawsuit wherein the elderly author of the famous novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, was scammed. There's a story about it here:


http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/08/harper-lee-dispute-royalties

ALSO

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/09/06/mockingbird-lawsuit-settlement/2778479/



Also, if you are a fan of Ayn Rand, you will like this company as the CEO, Eugene H. Winick, handles her estate. If, on the otherhand, you think she is one of the world's greatest sociopaths, as I do, you will steer clear.

Also from the Vanity Fair article (p2):

“Eugene Winick suffered a traumatic brain injury many years ago,” M&O’s attorney said in a 2012 arbitration hearing. “It affects his short-term memory. He goes to the office and conducts his business, but with a lot of assistance from his wife and daughter and other colleagues. . . . If he appears hesitant or confused, that may be because of his short-term memory problems.”

So there's my first contribution to this community.

For one thing, Eugene Winick and Leigh Ann Winick are not the same person. Leigh Ann is his daughter, and her husband, Eugene's son-in-law, Samuel Pinkus, is the scamming agent in this case. Not Eugene. McIntosh & Otis has nothing to do with this lawsuit. Lee was a client of M&O many years ago, but that relationship was dissolved when Eugene turned over some of his clients to Pinkus to lighten his workload. He had no knowledge of Pinkus's dealings with Lee.

My agent is Elizabeth Winick Rubenstein of McIntosh & Otis and I've been with her since 2008. She's an incredible agent and has sold 3 of my books to a major publisher (Harlequin Luna). The agency has an impeccable reputation and I coudn't ask for a more fair and considerate literary agency that always puts its client's interests first.

Hey, writers! Check out my interview with Christa Heschke here:

http://divinesecretsofthewritingsis.../03/interview-with-agent-christa-heschke.html

I'm about to query Shira Hoffman, but I'm a little confused about this line in their submission instructions:

Please send a query letter, synopsis, author bio, and the first three consecutive chapters (no more than 30 pages) of your novel.

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Emphasis mine. Does anyone know what this author bio would include? Is it just the usual "relevant experience" line that query letters include (short for me, "I attended Viable Paradise")? Or is it something more detailed? ("Lise lives in Massachusetts with three cats and long-stymied publication hopes").

I searched this thread, but didn't find any info...

lisefrac said:

I'm about to query Shira Hoffman, but I'm a little confused about this line in their submission instructions:

Emphasis mine. Does anyone know what this author bio would include? Is it just the usual "relevant experience" line that query letters include (short for me, "I attended Viable Paradise")? Or is it something more detailed? ("Lise lives in Massachusetts with three cats and long-stymied publication hopes").

I searched this thread, but didn't find any info...

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Since they listed it separately, I'd send more than just the brief blurb you typically include in a query. That said, I don't think it has to be super long, just the little paragraph-length bio you usually see on a jacket flap or the back cover of a book.

Does anyone know if Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein is accepting new clients? I queried her with a referral from one of her authors. This author, who was very nice, said that I'd get a fast response (positive or negative) if I mentioned the author's name. But that was over a month ago, and Elizabeth hasn't answered. Other agents have responded much faster than that when I queried without a referral.

mrgilbert2010 said:

Does anyone know if Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein is accepting new clients? I queried her with a referral from one of her authors. This author, who was very nice, said that I'd get a fast response (positive or negative) if I mentioned the author's name. But that was over a month ago, and Elizabeth hasn't answered. Other agents have responded much faster than that when I queried without a referral.

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Her client who referred you should be able to email her and let her know she sent you. Maybe even ask if she's still taking clients. That's the best way to find out.

I was repped by Shira Hoffman and Christa Heschke for about 1.5 years. If anyone is interested in querying them and wants more info, feel free to PM me.

Has anyone had any recent dealings with this agency, specifically Elizabeth Winick and Shira Hoffman?

I queried Shira Hoffman about a month ago. I haven't had a response so I archived the query. Based on her stats on Query Tracker, Shira doesn't respond to queries very often - response rate of 7.9%

I do. Did you query them recently?

McIntosh & Otis Agent Looking for Pitches on 12/13

Senior Agent Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein of McIntosh & Otis is doing a pitch day tomorrow on Sub it Club blog. She is looking for literary fiction, women’s fiction, historical fiction, romance, mystery/suspense, and memoir, along with narrative non-fiction, history and current affairs. Elizabeth will be reading all pitches and requesting work that piques her interest. You can read the pitch guidelines at the end of this post: https://subitclub.wordpress.com/2016/12/09/announcing-a-pitch-day-with-agent-elizabeth-winick-rubinstein-an-interview/
If anyone has questions I'd be happy to answer them.

The pitch is on and Elizabeth has made a couple of requests so far. Here's a link: https://subitclub.wordpress.com/2016/12/13/merry-pitchday-pitch-agent-elizabeth-winick-rubinstein-of-mcintosh-otis-today/

I hope this is not a stupid question, but I was wondering how to formally address Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein in a query letter. Is it "Dear Ms. Winick Rubinstein" or is it something else? No faster way to get trash-canned than to mess this up, and I can't seem to find a place where she's referred to without her first name being included.

Many thanks.

It's not a stupid question, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your letter wouldn't get trashed even if you put Mr. instead of Ms. (though it might be looked less favorably upon). From what I've read of agents, including my own, they'll always read the letter and the sample pages. If you put Dear Ms. Winick Rubinstein or Dear Ms. Rubinstein or even play it super safe and start with Dear Ms. Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein, you will be fine.